


A Thousand Unseen Intimacies

by Human_Resourccs



Series: Introspection Collection [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Character Analysis, Disgustingly fluffy, M/M, jonathan fails to realise how gay he is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 06:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14327061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Human_Resourccs/pseuds/Human_Resourccs
Summary: Edward reflects on whether Jonathan's really as cold as he ( and everyone else ) says he is.





	A Thousand Unseen Intimacies

It comes as a surprise to no one that Jonathan is not a man prone to grand displays and gestures of affections, and he would be the first to reinforce this fact if questioned. Nor, he would state bluntly, was he even the type for regular displays of intimacy. This, he believes most firmly. Not as an indignant insistence, but as a simple statement of fact.

Edward knew this to be wholly and factually incorrect - if one paid close attention, when one was granted the high honour of seeing him with his mental guards lowered, it would be quite glaringly obvious to anyone as perceptive as he. A thousand tiny intimacies whose existence only he was privy to.

In the oftentimes they would share a space out of desire for another's presence whilst they busied themselves. Sometimes to mutually de-stress, more often otherwise. In the occurrences of the former, Edward would take it upon himself to relocate into Jonathan's lap. Jonathan would grumble quietly out of habit more than the actual inconvenience, and they would re-situate themselves for comfort's sake.

Jonathan, discontent to rest his hands by his sides, would loosely encircle Edward's waist. His unnaturally thin wrists would come to rest on Edward's hip-bones; fingers laced loosely together; they would skim feather light touches across his stomach, some barely even touching. Edward was fond of the sensation that came only with such delicate movements from such hard, calloused fingers. It drew his mind to the memory of a kitten's tongue. Jonathan would stare ahead at whatever Edward had deigned to set the TV to, altogether oblivious to his own unconscious movements.

It was details such as these that Edward hoarded the memories of, kept them to himself, appreciated them for what they were. Jonathan was not the only one capable of analysing body language, even if faces were still beyond Edward's ken.

Another of his favourites, he would note, was in the times that their minds would be clouded and clogged by the thick haze of sleep in the early hours of the morning, those times when it was impossible to gauge through the curtains whether the sun was rising or setting. The loose arm around his stomach would tighten and draw him a few inches closer as Jonathan would lightly press his cheek or his nose into Edward's hair, voicing his content in a low and sluggish sigh before settling once more.

His other favourite - and he had decided most certainly that this _was_ his most favourite - were the subtleties in something as small as an embrace. The way Jonathan would push his shoulders forward as if he were trying to put his entire body into the hug. The way his hands would begin at Edward's ribs and slide back around; one hand would press flat into the small of his back, seeking to keep as many points of contact as he could, splaying his hand out to match the curve of his spine; the other at the very base of his neck, settled just between his shoulder blades, spidery fingers tracing across his vertebrae. Incredibly ( and cruelly ) brief though these moments were, Edward would do all he could to memorise these habitual, unrealised gestures that gave him the distinct idea that Jonathan was trying, knowingly or not, to encircle him with his entire form.

Edward was content to keep this small handful of secrets to himself, knowing that they spoke and existed only for him to hear. A thousand unseen truths that spoke more about Jonathan than he had ever revealed himself - the implications of which saddened him, that Jon felt a need to cling so tightly without ever tightening his grip. These tiny little vulnerabilities, Edward decided, he would never betray - though the Riddler dealt in information, Edward Nygma hoarded all of these little pieces of Jonathan to himself, his and his only.

 


End file.
